Transparent heel



Oct 2141 W. J. HUBBARD JR V TRANSPARENT HEEL ljllesept. 5' 1940 Fzy, l? IN W V EN TOR,

ILLIAM H1/3m. Jr

gym www A NORA/EVS..

Patented Oct. 21, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICEy TRANSPARENT HEEL William J. Hubbard, Jr., Herkimer, N. Y. v Application September 5, 1940, Serial No. 355,500

(Cl. SiS- 34) y pleasing lines, curves or irregularities onthe sur- Claims.

My present invention relates to heels for ladies shoes. y

The purpose of this invention is to provide a new and improved heel for ladies shoes and particularly to provide a heel of transparent or substantially transparent material such as plastic, wherein not only are the necessary means provided for fastening the heel tothe shoe and for fastening the top lift to 'the tread end of the heel, but also there are provided means for in effect concealing these internal fastening means for attaching the heel to the heel seat of the shoe and for concealing the means used for fastening the leather or other suitable tread surface to the small or tread end of the heel.

According to one of the recent styles the heels of`laclies shoes are made of transparent or substantially transparent material such as a proper plastic material, usually of some pleasing color. The transparent feature of this material affords a very pleasing aspect to the heel andl this is further accentuated by the peculiar shape of some of the heels. One of the disadvantages of these more or less transparent plastic heels is that they must be fastened to the shoe by means in addition to the adhesive or cement that is used, viz. the bottom or large end of the heel must be fastened to the heel seat of the shoe by a screw, nail, brad or equivalent mechanical means; and similarly the tread surface or socalled top lift of the heel, usually of leather or rubber or other somewhat elastic material, must be fastened to the tread surface of the heel by similar mechanical means in addition to the adhesive; and the transparency of these heels renders these mechanical fastening means visible. This is a very undesirable feature of the transparent heel because the noticeable appearance of these mechanical fastening means detracts greatly from the attractive appearance and beauty of the heel. The transparency of this type of heel gives it a lovelyand very pleasing effect but unfortunately reveals any mechanical fastening members inside the surface of the heel very plainly.

The'main purpose of my present invention is to overcome this disadvantage; I still provide a -substantially transparent heel but I also provide means for` making unnoticeable the metal fastening members that project into the heel.

A further and somewhat more specific purpose is to provide variations in the otherwise regularly curved outer surface of the heel, which variations will not interfere with` the `general transparency of the heel but will in fact `make l y or lines so that the observer willv see thesev lines on the near surface ortheir distorted orfchanged o-r refracted images on the far side ofthe heel.

The effect of these patterns, such as grooves, in the otherwise regular smooth surface of the heel, is to bring it about that the observer 'sees these variations or lines, images and refractions and almost always loses sight of vthe metal fas-` tening members within the body of the heel.

It is within the scope yof this invention to-use any one or more of a great variety of lines, patterns or variations in the regularity of the eX- terior surface of the transparent heel in order to effectively camouflage the presence of the metal heel-fastening members. Preferably, as shown in the drawing, the variations -in the smooth surface of the plastic heel are confined firstly to a zone a short distance down from the seat portion of the shoe in order to largely con# ceal the screw orV other metal fastening member that comes down through the shoe heelseat into v transparent and in factthis unmarked smooth intermediate portion of the heel is advisable in that it provides part of themeans for showing offrthe refracted or reflected4 images frornrthe other side of the heel. ,l i l Further purposes and advantages will appear from the specification and claims herein.

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of `a transparent. full Louis heel for a ladys shoe with the heel-fasten.- ing screw in place and showing noticeably i through the heel, as also is the case withthe screw fastening the top lift to the heel. E l

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a transparent heel of the full Louis type and its top lift, and. having both screws in place but with the heel equipped with my improvement in the way of ,variations in certain zones of the outer surface and so rendering the said screws very much lessy noticeable.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the heel shown in Fig. 2. L

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the heel shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

Figs. Sand 9 are side elevations respectivelyr:v of the shoe-engaging portions of two heels hav, ing still different forms of surface variations.

Referring to the drawing in amore particular I description it will be seen that-Fig; v1` is a perspective View as seen from slightly to the rear and above a transparent heel for a ladys shoe,l

said heel being of the type to which Amy invention is especially-adapted to be applied.V This particular `heel however is not equipped with myv invention but showsa heel of the type in question, where the regular various curved sur-,

faces, such as the sides I0, rear II and front o1 breast I2, are all left plain vand therefore show very plainly,'through the transparent heel and plain surfaces thereof, the heel-fastening screw I3 and the top lift-fastening screw-I6.

In this view, Fig. 1, the heel-fastening screw I3 is Ain thev regular position it would occupyif the heel were fastened to a shoe as is the case in Fig. v5, and so the head andthe unthreaded upper portion of the shank of the screw appear above the shoe-engaging face- I vof the heel. The lower portion of the shank'of this upper screw I3y is visible through the upper portion of the near side I0 of the heel butdue to the-curved surface of the sides of lthisheel the said lower part of the screw appearsrdelcidedly tothe righiI of the actual lposition of said lowerpart of the screw as explainedby the principle of refraction of light. Similarly and for a similar reason the Ordinarily and preferably such fastening means will be the screws heretofore regularly used to fasten Wood heels to shoes, in that the conical heads I3 of these screws can be readily countersunk into countersunk holes located in the insole I 8 of the shoe so as to make the flat top I3a of the screw come level with or on the plane of the` upper surface of the insole I8 of the shoe, as

appears in Fig. 5 as hereinafter described.

`The advantage of this particular fastener is that the threading of the screw will cut its own groove in the relatively smaller hole provided projecting down from the surface I5vof the plasl tic heel into the body of the said heel and thus providing a very firm, positive connection between the'transparent plastic heel and the shoe.

However as already intimated, the very transparency of heels of this type shows oif very distinctly, and might be said to almost emphasize the presence of the metallic fastening means within the body of the otherwise beautiful transparent heel. It will be understood that these screws are perfectly honest and perform an honposition of the breast `or front I2 ofthe heel-appears somewhat distorted so'that the rfarther corner of the front ofthe heel appears bent into a greater curve than is', the case "with, thev near edge I6.

The lower screw I4 is also very plainly visible 1 through the part of the heel 'adjacent the so-Vv called top lift II. This top lift. I'I is the groundengaging part of the'heel but is called inthe shoemaking trade and particularly inthe heelmaking trade theV top lift because Vthe rheels are always built up upside-down and this lift is put on the top of the upside-down heel and'soat that time is the top lift. f -Q As already'suggested these transparent heels n of plastic or similar material, and sometimes called in the shoe trade glass heel,a`re of very pleasingandattractive `appearance .due to the glass-like luster of the surfaces of the -heel and to the. transparency of the heel, and due .also

Lto the pleasing colors or tints in which the transparent heels can be made. These relatively high heels however, especially when made' 'of l plastic material, have to .be fastened to theheel seat 01 'strong' material and are usually in the form. of

lscrews such as I3 and I4, already mentionedor other lequivalent fastening means, if desired'.

orable function of holding these parts together but as the Shoemaker and even the shoe salesman well know, the ladies who buy shoes equipped withthese glass-like heels are selecting the shoes land their heels for the glass-like beauty of the said heels and they do not want the I beauty ofthe transparent heels to be marred by the very noticeable appearance of these screws or other metallic fastening means showing through the heels. Since I have equipped these transparent heelsv with my invention, which` practically conceals the screws or other fastening means or at least renders such fastening means vin effect unnoticeable, the said transparent heels have become very much more popular than ever was the case with plain transparent heels. When lady customers are given thc choice of plain transparent heels or Such heels with variations in the surfaces thereof pursuant to my invention, they almost invariably vchoose the plastic heels provided with my invention. In Figs. 1 to 5 of the drawing I have shown heelsl of a full Louis form, but this form is simply illustrative of my invention and is not a limitation of my invention. Such Vfull Louis heels are particularly pleasing when made of plastic` material and especially when made of l plastic material and embodying my invention, but it will be distinctly understood that my invention is not limited to the full Louis or even part Louis construction but is fully applicable to many other forms of ladies heels, such as Cuban, Continental, or military heels and otherforrns of heels too numerous to mention.

Figs. 2 to 5 illustrate a full Louis form of transparent heel embodying what I now consider my preferred form of the invention iny that these heels are provided around their sides I0 and rear II ina Vbelt or Zone I9 near the shoeengaging end I5 of the heel with a series of grooves 20. 'Ihese grooves or recesses 20 are U- shaped in cross sectionthat is with a circular bottom to the groove, and one very pleasing arrangement is to have these grooves 20 arranged parallel to each other and parallel to the adjacent edge ofthe shoe-engaging4 end I5 of the heel. These grooves 20 are spaced a short distance apart so as to leave therebetweeny a band 2|, having the original curved surface of th heel.

Fig. 2, being a perspectiveviewv of a vheel of tion, shows as nearly as can be in a drawing, the appearance to the eye of a heel equipped with my invention. It will be noticed that the grooves 20, by forming interruptions in the regular smooth Curved surface of the zone I9, very largely prevent the shank of the screwwithin the heel from being seen. The curved form in cross ysection of the grooves'20 appear to satisfactorily prevent most ofv the shank of the screw from being seen.' 'At the most only small portions of the shankl of the screw can be seen through the intervening bands 2| between the grooves `2li.`

Furthermore, the refracted, distorted appearance of the grooves on the further side ofi the heel come out as much more noticeable 'curved showings of the grooves on the farther side, as appears from the rearwardly down-turned curved but widened representations 22 appearing in this Fig. 2. The sum total of the pleasing appearance of the grooves 20 themselves and the pleasing bands 2l, and of the refracted showing 22 of the grooves from the farther side of the heel, all operate to make these parts much more noticeable than the one or two obscurely shown portions of the lower part of the'upper screw I3. In other words my invention has brought it about that these surface grooves 20 and the intervening bands 2l and the distorted showings `of the groovesv and bands on the farther sides of the heel, present a pleasing and eyeattracting View which distracts thev eye from the obscurely, only slightly shown screw within the heel. There is thus accomplished a practical `concealment or hiding of the screw within the heel.

Of course' it will be understood that when this heel is fastened to a shoe in the usual conventional way, as shown in Fig. 5, the conical head I3 of the screw and even the flat top I3a of the screw will be absolutely invisible when the shoe is worn or even when the shoe is in the hand of a purchaser.

As appears in Figs. 1 to 7, the ground-engaging end of the heel is provided with a so-called top lift I'I of material other than that used in the transparent heel and commonly ofleather or composition that is somewhat resilient, and this top lift is permanently and securely fastened to the so-called top of the heel by the screw I4. The side and rear surfaces of the heel in a Zone near this top lift I'I are likewise provided with surface variations which are shown in Figs. 2 to 5 as curved-bottom grooves 23. While the portion of the lower screw I4 that comes up into the body of the transparent heel is perhaps not quite as noticeable as the upper screw, yet it ldoes appear plainly through the plain sides of the heel as shown in Fig. l, and these grooves 23 serve the same purpose as the grooves 28 already mentioned in that they very largely conceal or obscure the threaded portion of the lower screw I4, and the grooves and the spaces between the grooves make pleasing lines or patterns upon this portion of the heel that catch the customers eyes and thereby distract her sight from the very obscurely appearing upper portion of the screw I4 within the heel.

In the longitudinal sectional View Fig. 5 there is shown a part of the rear end of a shoe including the thick outer sole 24, insole I8 already mentioned and the usual counter 25', quarter 25, and inside lining 25" for the counter, projecting up from the back cf the shoe around the heel of the wearer of the shoe. There is also shown in this view the usual arrangement `and the insole I8 and main sole 24.

ofthe upperv or heel-afxing screw I3 projecting through the insole I8, the main sole 24 and into the upperportion'ofA the body` of the heel. It will be seen from this view that the conical head I3 of the screw has a very 'strong engagement with the thick inner sole I8 and therethrough with the thick main sole 24'and also that the outwardly` projecting screw .threads on the shank of the screw project outwardly in an obvious manner into the body of the heelgand thus effect a positive engagement between the said heel Ordinarily a sockl lining or other equivalent layer 23 covers the insole I8 and the flat head 13a.

l Fig. 6 'is asidey 'elevation of a transparent heel ofthe so-called Cuban type and equipped with a modied form of my invention in that the surface variations placed about the sides II) and rear II of the heel consist of reversely bent curved grooves or Avariations 2l. Also similarly reversely curved `grooves or other surface variations 28 are placed about the side and rear faces and also if desired across the adjacent lower portion of the frontof this Cuban heel. It will be understood that these reversely curved grooves or recesses function in the way already described as to the grooves 20 and 23 on the heels of Figs. 2, 3, 4l'and 5, to largely conceal or obstruct the visibility of the upper screw that will ultimately be used to fasten vthis heel toj a shoe. In Fig. .6 the top lift II is shown asalready in place and so atop lift-attaching screw I4 will already be in place in the ,heel shown in Fig. 6, but will be largely concealedy by the reverse grooves 28. ,L

In Figg? there is shown atransparent heel embodying my inventionas applied toaiso-called Continental heel. In this heel the surface variations are a series of rows of scallops 29 placed in a Zone immediately below the edge of the shoe-engaging end of this heel 30, such scallopshaped variations performing the function of concealing largely the upper heel-attaching` from the slightly shown screw in more or less the same way as already described in prior forms of this heel. Similarly, scalloped-shaped surface variations 3| are provided adjacent the lift-engaging end of this heel to in an obvious manner largely conceal the lower lift-attachingscrew 32, and to form patterns on the heel distracting the observers eye from what little of the screw may be seen through the variations.

Fig. 8 shows a side elevation of another form of heel equipped with a still different form of surface variation embodying this invention. In this view the heel is provided in the zone just below the edge of its shoe-engaging end with a series of small relatively closely arranged indentations 33, say about one-sixteenth of an inch long vertically and one thirty-second of an inch apart laterally. Even these small close indentations break up the direct transmission of light through the surface of the heel suiiiciently to accomplish the purpose of my invention.

In some of the claims of this application I have expressly described the heel of my invention as being of transparent material and having transparent side and rear surfaces. Iri practice the transparent material when formed into proper shape for heels does not always have a transparent surface at its sides and rear but these side and rear surfaces have to be definitely polished in order to make them transparent. On the lother hand, in several of the claims I have described the heel as being transparent and this includes not only the mass of the heel being of transparent material, but the surfaces, particularly the rear and side surfaces thereof, being transparent either by being so formed as to be transparent or as by being actually polished after being formed to the desired shape or curve.

In Fig. 9 there is shown the shoe-engaging end of another heel,l inside elevation, which is provided with another form of ymy invention in that instead of indentations or. grooves projecting down into the body of the heel there are provided slight .vertically arranged orupright proi jections or'protuberanc'es extending outwardly from the heel in the form of ridges 34. These outwardly projecting surface variations are still within the scope of 'my invention in that they disturb the regular transmission of light through the surfaces of the heel enough to accomplish the main purpose of the variations or grooves used inother forms of my invention. l

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letter Patent is: 1

1. A transparent heel having fastening means projecting into its shoe-engaging end fo-r fastening the heel to a shoe, said heel having a series of grooves projecting into its surface along its sides and rear in a zone near its shoe-engagingend for the purpose of drawing the attention of the observer to such grooves and the refractions and reflections thereof `and away from the sight of the heel-holding means..

2. A transparent heel having its side andrear l faces polished and having fasteningmeans projecting into itsshoe-engaging end for fastening the heel to a shoe, said heel having a'series of grooves projecting into its surface along its sides and rear in a zone near its shoe-engaging end for the purpose of drawing the attention of the observer to such grooves and the refractions and reflections thereof and away from the sight of the heel-holding means.

3. A transparent heel having its side and rear faces polished and having fastening means projecting into its shoe-engaging end for fastening the heel to a shoe, said heel having a series of U-shaped grooves projecting into its surface along its sides and rear in a zone near its shoe. engaging end for the purpose of drawing'the attention of the observer to such grooves and the refractions and reflections thereof and away from the sight of the heel-holding means.

4. A transparent heel having its side and rear faces polished and having fastening means projecting into its shoe-engaging end for fastening the heel to a shoe, said heel having a series of curved-bottomed grooves projecting into its surface along its sides and rear in a zone near its shoe-engaging end for the purpose of drawing the attention of the observer to such grooves and the refractions and reflections thereof and away from the sight of the heel-holding means.v

5. A transparent heel having its side and rear faces polished and having fastening means projecting into its shoe-engagingfend for fastening the heel to a shoe, said heel having a series of surface variations formed upon its surface along its sides and rear in a zone near its shoefengaging end for the purpose of drawing the attention of the observer to such variations and the re-4 WILLIAM J. HUBBARD, "JR, 

